Creators Are Really, Really Mad At YouTube

New rules are sure to kill upcoming YouTube creators before they even had a chance.

Amid seemingly endless controversies about content on YouTube (which of course includes Logan Paul’s incredibly insensitive video shot in Japan’s “suicide forest”), Google announced major changes last night to how videos would be monetized on the site. Beginning February 20th, bigtime channels included in its coveted “Google Preferred” program will be manually vetted for ad friendliness. But more importantly, the video-sharing site is making it a hell of a lot harder for small, emerging YouTubers to make a penny… and uploaders (including our own) are pissed.

YouTube has struggled over the last few months to grapple with inappropriate content on its service. Aside from that one YouTube star sharing a deeply insensitive video, the site has recently faced scrutiny over content ranging from white supremacy to completely disturbing content aimed at kids. In an attempt to rectify this, CEO Susan Wojcicki said that the company will expand its team that moderates policy violations to over 10,000 people this year.

But the new monetization strategy doesn’t so much as appease those worried about policy violations as it signals to small creators that they simply aren’t worth the trouble to the tech giant.

Under the new guidelines, channels will need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last year to be eligible for receiving ad revenue (THAT’S 166 DAYS). Previously, uploaders needed just 10,000 total views to run ads on their videos. All Google Preferred channels will also now be manually reviewed, with ads only running on videos that have been approved.

Thank you @YouTube. You are hurting the little guys so much. I’ve been on your website for 10 years+ now. Show some respect to your content creators. pic.twitter.com/TGIFJHnV21

Sure, the changes will probably appease nervous advertisers worried about being associated with videos of dead bodies or creepy clips aimed at kids, but they also show that the company ultimately doesn’t see much value in emerging channels…